Employment law stories in the news this week – 10.02.2014 to 16.02.2014

In the latest of our series of posts on employment law stories in the news this week, we take a look at ten employment law-related stories that have made the news between 10 February 2014 and 16 February 2014.

Perth care home ordered to pay £7,200 in compensation to ex-employee – An employment tribunal upheld the claim of Caroline MacDonald of St John Street against Lorraine Caddell of St Johnstoun’s Nursing Home, Barossa Place. Tribunal judge Ian McFatridge ruled that Ms MacDonald’s dismissal was both substantively and procedurally unfair (The Courier)

Police facing £15m bill for forcing 600 cops to take retirement – West Midlands Police could face a crippling £15 million bill for unlawfully forcing 600 of its most experienced officers into early retirement. Between 2010 and 2013 the force imposed ‘Pension Regulation A19’ in a cost-cutting measure, which terminated the careers of hundreds of cops under the rank of chief officer who served for 30 or more years (The Birmingham Mail)

High Court rejects union plea on employment tribunal fees – The High Court has rejected a trade union plea to halt the government’s imposition of fees on workers who bring employment tribunal proceedings against their employers. Unison, the largest public sector union, had urged the court to quash what it (The Financial Times)

New Health and Work Service to get long-term sick back to work – People off sick for more than four weeks are to be offered advice to get them back to work more quickly under a scheme being set up by the government. The Health and Work Service, which will cover England, Wales and Scotland, will offer non-compulsory medical assessments and treatment plans (BBC)

Claimant faces record costs after tribunal – An employment tribunal has ordered a claimant who unsuccessfully took a local authority to tribunal to pay record costs for an individual. Dr D B Makanjuola had taken his employer, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, to the tribunal, making 69 separate allegations of discrimination and matters arising from protected disclosures (The Law Society Gazette)

Devon health boss Dr Paula Vasco-Knight suspended after ‘nepotism’ tribunal – A hospital boss has been suspended from her job after being criticised by a tribunal over whistle-blowers who accused her of nepotism. South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said chief executive Dr Paula Vasco-Knight would be suspended during an investigation into her actions (BBC)

Burglars and thieves no longer need to give full details of criminal pasts to employers – Burglars and thieves will no longer have to tell employers about their criminal past when they apply for jobs, ministers have said. Currently anyone who has served a sentence of six months or less has to declare their criminal history going back seven years. Under the changes, they will only have to disclose any convictions going back two years (The Telegraph)

Barclays to axe up to 12,000 jobs – Barclays is to cut as many as 12,000 jobs this year, of which more than half will come from redundancies of UK-based staff as the bank attempts to reduce costs. The bank said the redundancies would include 820 senior managers, consisting of 220 managing directors and 600 director-level employees, as part of what the lender described as a “streamlining” programme (The Telegraph)

Sellafield is ordered to pay £22,000 to bipolar man – Sellafield has been ordered to pay £22,431 compensation after refusing to employ a man with bipolar disorder. Steven Larg was one of 7,000 people who applied for 200 operatives vacancies at the nuclear plant in 2012. He was successful in getting through to the final stages of the recruitment process where he was given a conditional job offer (The North-West Evening Mail)

Redundancies at Nottinghamshire County Council will cost £13.7 million – The true cost of making more than 750 people redundant at Notts County Council has been revealed. The authority has set aside £13.7 million for redundancy – almost £4 million more than they spent on libraries this financial year (The Nottingham Post)

About

Redmans Employment Team deal with employment matters for both employers and employees, including drafting employment contracts and policies, advising employers and employees on compromise agreements, handling day-to-day HR issues, advising on restructures, and handling Employment Tribunal cases for both employers and employees
Call 020 3397 3603 to speak to one of the members of our employment team or email us on enquiries@redmans.co.uk.
Redmans have offices in Richmond, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kingston, Wimbledon, Ealing, Kings Cross and Marylebone (meetings strictly by appointment only).

Contact us

The articles published on this website, current at the date of publication, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your own circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.

"Redmans Solicitors" is a trading name of Redmans Ltd (company no: 05872980). Our SRA number is 468098

Redmans Solicitors took a lot of the worry away and were very thoughtful and meticulous in their dealings with my case , thank you very mush , great service and a great job

Posted 1 week ago

Mark B

Prompt efficient service. Hourly, and part thereof, billing got a bit stressful at times - as opposed to flat fee - made me think twice about sending an email or making a quick call when I had a query because it would have eaten up minutes from my budget. But happy with the legal service I received overall and would recommend.

Posted 2 weeks ago

Anonymous

Chris Hadrill has provided a truly wonderful service and was willing to lend his support and expertise at a time when other solicitors, only wanted to discuss their fees!
A clear thinking and down to earth professional, Chris can be trusted to listen carefully to your matter, cut through the fog, and advise you on the best (and most realistic) way forward, saving you time, money and heartache. It will be helpful if you first get your ducks in a row in terms of documents / evidence etc. and then contact Chris, (that’s what we did) as this will help your matter to be dealt with faster. The more organised and together you are the more successful you will be.
You'll be fine with Chris, I highly recommend him.
Good luck!

Posted 3 weeks ago

Richard v

Excellent Service

Posted 1 month ago

Anonymous

Very happy from service received. Highly recommend

Posted 1 month ago

Colin W

Very professional and thorough. Sachs who dealt with the bulk of my case was excellent
Thank you. .

Posted 1 month ago

Anonymous

I was generally impressed with the fast turn around, efficiency, responsiveness, and consideration of circumstances. I needed a couple of areas of advice quickly and with Redmans help was able to get to a conclusion quickly and with minimum stress. They were friendly and professional throughout - I'd use them again.

Posted 1 month ago

Anonymous

The guidance and assistance I recently received when using Redman's was fantastic. Caroline & Chris were both very informative and understanding walking me through each step. Thank you.

Posted 1 month ago

Nicola W

Fantastic service, very quick and efficient. Thank you

Posted 1 month ago

Anonymous

Excellent professional service.

Posted 1 month ago

Anonymous

As with All solicitors advice without consequence but understood and communicated my legal position

Posted 2 months ago

Anonymous

Prompt, professional and excellent service.

Posted 2 months ago

Dominic C

Excellent service, prompt and helpful

Posted 2 months ago

Anonymous

I found Redman’s to be very efficient and got me the best deal available in the short time scale that was available.

Excellent service provided by Redmans, will certainly consider using again.

Posted 2 months ago

Melanie H

Very professional and extremely personable service. Thank you very much.

Posted 2 months ago

Anonymous

I found Chris to be very approachable and easy to speak with about complex matters. He took action quickly and his updates to me, as his client, were prompt. I would recommend Chris and the team at Redmans without hesitation.